-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Six volunteer astronauts emerged from a ` trip ' to Mars on Friday , waving and grinning widely after spending 520 days in seclusion .

Crowds handed each member of the group a red rose after their capsule opened at the facility in Moscow .

Scientists placed the six male volunteers in isolation in 2010 to simulate a mission to Mars , part of the European Space Agency 's experiment to determine challenges facing future space travelers .

The six , who are between ages 27 and 38 , lived in a tight space the size of six buses in a row , said Rosita Suenson , the agency 's program officer for human spaceflight .

During the period , the crew dressed in blue jumpsuits showered on rare occasions and survived on canned food . Messages from friends and family came with a lag based on the simulated distance to Earth .

While they had a few luxuries -- a Christmas tree and a Halloween party -- they spent most of their seclusion gathering data to help future space travel .

The simulated trip replicated all aspects of a real spaceflight to Mars , including orbiting the planet , landing and returning to Earth .

`` This was like taking a psychological trip to Mars ... it was the first full-duration of a human mission to Mars , '' Suenson said .

Though it did not expose the six volunteers from China , Russia and Europe to the weightlessness and radiation of a space mission , it replicated an important aspect of space travel .

`` The study is helping to determine key psychological and physiological effects of being in such an enclosed environment for such an extended period of time , '' the space agency said .

Data from the mission will give experts an idea of how the mind and body would cope with a long spaceflight to the Red Planet , according to Suenson .

On their return Friday , the Mars500 crew addressed the media briefly and urged experts to put their data to good use . They will meet select family members and undergo quarantine for four days .

Extra seclusion will allow them to get reacquainted with their surroundings , including sound and light , Suenson said .

The six had personal items such as books , films and personal laptops during their stay at the facility in Moscow 's Institute for Biomedical Problems .

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NEW : Crowds hand each member of the group a red rose

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NEW : While secluded , the crew has few luxuries

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NEW : The group asks scientists to put the data it gathered to good use

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The group 's isolation simulates a 520-day mission to Mars